


On Which Planet

by Grimes420



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Drama & Romance, Gay, M/M, Prequel, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-10-12 09:13:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20561861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grimes420/pseuds/Grimes420
Summary: Monty and Jasper are best friends. Brothers, nearly, given the depth of their relationship. But in the months before their arrest, how far did this relationship go, and how did it shape their interactions going forward?





	1. Chapter 1

“On which planet would you rather smoke a blunt?”

Monty pondered for a moment, glaring out of the porthole. “Earth.” The answer was always Earth, but Monty followed up with an explanation. “Imagine how trippy it would be seeing a tree for the first time, stoned as hell.” He leaned back in his chair and changed the song on the radio. Slowly, he met the gaze of his friend Jasper sitting next to him, lit dimly by the light coming from the window. It was just enough to notice how bloodshot Jasper’s eyes were.

“Dude, you’re baked.” Jasper grinned at Monty, seemingly reading his mind.

“Not as baked as you. How many edibles did you eat earlier?” Jasper’s mind wandered as he tried to recall. Moments passed in the dark Farm Station room before he replied, confusion clear on his face.

“What’d you say?” Jasper asked and Monty chortled as he was in the process of scarfing down the rest of his cookie, causing him to choke and laugh even more, with Jasper joining in. “Don’t die on me, man! It’s too soon!” Jasper stood up and began pounding Monty’s back as he hacked up bits of cookie, his face turning bright pink, still laughing. Jasper stumbled around the dark room, locating a bottle of water he brought in to their Stoned Sesh and handing it to Monty, who downed it in record time.

“Cotton mouth is a bitch.” Monty sputtered as tears rolled down his cheeks.

“What if- “Jasper started, staring at the planet they both longed to see without a pane of thick glass between them. “What if, because of everyone being dead, nature has reclaimed the Earth.” Monty nodded in agreement.

“Theoretically,” Monty added, clearing his throat and wiping his eyes. “Without human interference, that’s what would happen. Let’s assume the bombs leveled everything; it would be super easy for plant life to thrive once it was able to in that environment.”

“So, you’re telling me that it’s _hypothetically _possible that the entirety of Earth…could be covered in pot.” Jasper beamed, eyes filled with goofy optimism, as Monty glared at him. The two of them cracked up a moment later, youthful laughter filling the small space. “Maybe we’ll see it, someday. And smoke every single bud we can find. And make the _best _alcohol. And grow some shrooms – we’ll leave you to that – and just…be happy we made it back.” Looking at Jasper’s hopeful face, Monty couldn’t help but sigh and agree with him.

“In some universe, yeah, that could happen. Maybe marijuana developed some anti-radioactive properties and not only survived, but thrived. It’ll be the first thing we look for if— _when _we get there.” Almost on cue, the current song finished and the intro to Radioactive started. Both boys glared at the stereo, and then back to each other.

“Weeeiiirrrdd!” They drawled in unison, and the laughter continued. It resounded around the tin can they occupied, and apparently carried into the next room, because only seconds later they were blinded by a bright light that caused them to duck for cover in the blankets on the bed.

“Monty!” came a tired voice from the doorway. “It’s getting late and you two have class in the morning. You guys can either quiet down and get to bed, or Jasper can go home. It’s not like you won’t see him tomorrow…and the day after that.”

“Sorry, dad!” Monty called out, slapping his hand around blindly to find the radio, turning the volume down. “We were just about to lie down.” Monty’s dad huffed in approval, closing the door.

“Man, that was a close call.” Jasper breathed, causing Monty to recoil. “What?”

“Dude, your breath smells like ass.”

“Because you’ve been sniffing asses lately and can recognize the scent?” Jasper huffed and puffed breathy air towards Monty, who responded by pushing Jasper right off the bed.

“Hey, while you’re up, hit the lights!” Monty peeked his head out when he saw the room go dark once again. “You’re right though. Dad would’ve taken one look at us and _known, _and then he would’ve taken turns killing us.”

“Damn, that bad, huh?” Jasper bounced onto the bed. “I never pegged James to be a hard ass about it. It’s _medicinal_, after all!”

“Exactly. It’s rationed medication; if he found out we took some, let alone raided the kitchen for more supplies, he’d be furious. Mostly because I’d be dumb enough to do something that could get me sent to the Skybox.” Jasper laid his hand on Monty’s shoulder.

“Well, if you’re dumb enough to get sent there, then I’ll be right there with ya.”

“I don’t think they have bunkbed cells in prison, Jasper.” Monty rolled his eyes, nevertheless chuckling at Jasper’s unbridled optimism. “Let’s just hope we get roomed next to each other so we can talk through the walls.”

“That’s the spirit!” Jasper cheered before hopping out of the bed once more to slide out the extra mattress-pad from the storage space under Monty’s bed. He collected his pillow and blanket from one of the bins lining the wall, one specifically reserved for Jasper’s belongings when he stays over. Monty has one akin to it in Jasper’s bedroom, but he doesn’t have a window, so a lot of their free time is spent in Monty’s space. “I see you cleaned; there’s no underwear on the floor today. You didn’t have to go to all that trouble just for little old me.” Jasper threw his shirt over his head and slid out of his baggy pants, pushing them to the corner of the room, and tossed his pillow and blanket to the pad, his body following on top of the comfortable mass.

“You know you love it. Makes you feel like you’re in your own room, because God knows you don’t clean ever, even _if _I’m staying.”

“Right, because if you come into my space, you should expect to experience it in its natural state! You’re like my brother at this point.” Jasper slid the thick black goggles that adorned his head constantly off and lobbed them on top of his clothes in the corner. “It’s not like you haven’t seen my underwear before, anyways.” Monty, once again, rolled his eyes, muscle memory at this point in their friendship, and pulled his blanket up around him before taking off his own pants and shirt, propelling them across the room into the laundry bin. He wrapped the blanket around him, creating a Monty-filled blanket-burrito, and leaned over the edge of the bed to talk to Jasper, his long limbs sprawled out across the pad, hands behind his head and eyes already closed.

“It’s my turn.” Monty yawned, the comfort of his bed bringing forth sleepiness almost instantly.

“Mmm?” his friend muttered, nearly unconscious.

“Our game.”

“Mmm.” Monty pondered, glancing from Jasper, to the window view of Earth, to the ceiling. What didn’t he already know? They’d been friends since nearly forever, and they’ve played this game almost nearly since day 1. What questions hadn’t been asked? Monty already knew the answer, regardless.

“On which planet would you rather start over?”

“Hmm?” Jasper inquired, slipping farther and farther into a state of dreaming.

“If you had the chance to start your life over from birth, anywhere in the Universe, where would it be?” Monty offered the question, expecting the same answer, and he almost assumed Jasper was asleep before he answered.

“Mm, wherever.” Jasper rolled over, a cue that he’d cave to the weed-induced exhaustion any minute.

“Really?” Monty inquired, curious.

“Yeah, man. As long as I get to see you there, it doesn’t matter.” Not even seconds later, Jasper’s breathing slowed, a sure sign he was gone. Monty pondered his answer and couldn’t help but agree with him; his friendship to Jasper got him through some fairly rough times, and likewise for him. He couldn’t imagine not having him by his side, let alone being on separate planets.

The thought alone caused Monty to shiver under his blanket, so he pulled it up to his neck and closed his eyes. Soon, he’d dream; blue skies, green grass blowing in a gentle breeze, barefooted in a field. The sun shining down upon him, a warmth he could only express in words and not feeling, the setting only imaginable because of footage of Earth shown in their first year of Earth Skills. He’d sit in the grass, a forest clearing bordered by deep scarlet flowers and tall trees. His hands would feel around in the grass until it met a hand – Jasper’s, sitting in the field next to him, goggles equipped, looking up at the sky with a bright smile on his face. Their hands would interlock, finger laced between gangly, slightly crooked finger, and Jasper would slide his goggles off slowly to properly meet Monty’s gaze, when—

**_ BEEP BEEP BEEP. BEEP BEEP BEEP. _ **

The dream never lasted long enough. 


	2. Chapter 2

“Monty, wake up!” Jasper shook Monty awake not even 30 seconds after he had lazily slapped the snooze button, wishing to return to the dream already slipping away from him. He slid further into his bed, feebly trying to pull the blanket over his head, however Jasper was much more alert and pulled it from Monty’s grasp with ease. “Let’s go on an adventure.”

“Jasper, we have to go to class today.” Monty grumbled. It’s not like he _wanted _to go, but they had just skipped the day before. Either way, Monty needed a few conscious moments to collect his thoughts and process the dream before spending the day with his friend.

Crush?

Unrequited love?

Monty shook off the increasingly negative frame his mind was giving the situation. They were friends, and that’s all it would ever probably be. Monty had never seen Jasper show even the most remote form of attraction towards men, so he could never imagine telling Jasper about his dream or how he felt. Opening his eyes, he made a grave promise to himself to hold this inside no matter what. It’s not as if being gay aboard the Ark was a cause for ridicule like it used to be on Earth; he just didn’t want to run the risk of losing his friend. His _brother, _as Jasper had started putting it.

Light flood his vision and the shadowy, blurry form of Jasper -- fully dressed, his dark hair pressed into place by his goggles, a dorky smile adorning his face -- came slowly into view.

“You’re practically naked, Monty. Get dressed so we can head out.” Jasper scrambled around the room, tossing articles of clothing at his companion to facilitate the wake-up process. Meanwhile, Monty blushed and scrambled to pull his pillow around to cover himself with _something. _

“I wouldn’t be _practically naked_ if someone had let me keep my blanket and have five more minutes of sleep. What time is it, anyways?” Monty rubbed his eyes and yawned.

“Eight. Hannah and James already left for the meeting in GoSci today. There’s coffee in the main room ready for you but drink fast. We’ve got an entire day ahead of us.” Monty looked down at his lap, the pile of clothes growing. “Did I miss something?” Socks, pants, shirt, jacket, all check, except…

“Uh, my underwear?”

“Underwear is optional.”

“Of course you’d say that.” Monty ushered a rambling Jasper out of the room, shutting the door and locking it while he continued about how _he _wasn’t wearing any today, and how they could be Commando Buddies. Monty sat on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands, breathing deep, eyes closed. _Get your shit together, man. _He told himself. He let himself collect his thoughts for several minutes, before standing up and getting dressed. Examining himself in the full-body mirror on the back of his door, he ran a comb through his thin hair, dabbed on some deodorant under his arms, and walked out in the main room.

Jasper was sitting at the table in front of the television, a cup of coffee in his hand, some brand of old Earth sports playing on the television.

“What the fuck was that, ref? Are you blind?!” Jasper shouted at the TV as if he hadn’t seen this specific match hundreds of times prior; there’s not much of a market for sports on a dead planet. Monty sipped his coffee – black, just like his dad drank it.

“What did you have planned for today?” Monty said, attempting to come back to reality.

“We’re going to the Farm again.” said Jasper without looking away from the television.

“We just went yesterday. We can’t go too often, or they might notice.”

“Monty, Monty, Monty…most of them are at the meeting today. That’s why we’re going to stock up for a while. We don’t know when another opportunity like this will happen.”

“By ‘stock up’, you mean…a sizeable quantity?” Monty wavered; the last thing he wanted was to be sent to the Skybox, and of _course _the Guard would look at the teenage son of two prominent farmers before anyone else, especially when they were absent from school. Someone would notice. He retreated into his mind, already overwhelmed with thoughts, but tried his hardest to make sure his expression didn’t reflect these thoughts.

It didn’t work.

Jasper noticed immediately and appeared concerned. “What’s wrong? It’s not like we haven’t done this before.” He joked, but his worry was genuine.

Monty swallowed. “We’ve only taken small nugs here and there. If we take any more than that someone is bound to notice — especially my father.” Jasper took a few sips of coffee and pondered for a moment; Monty thought, for a split second, that Jasper’s attention had diverted from the conversation and back to the television, before he stood and shouted out:

“I got it!” Monty glared at him, puzzled and still somewhat troubled by the plan. “We take a nug or two from the denser areas of each plant; that way, it will still look like a proportional amount of weed is still growing.” Still somewhat skeptical, albeit less so, Monty tried to reach for another excuse.

“This kind of heist requires much more planning. Where are we gonna store it on ourselves, and in one of our rooms, without it reeking? What if someone is still at the farm?” Jasper grinned, his dorky smile causing Monty’s heart to patter slightly.

“My dear Monty. I’ve been planning this for a while.” He reached under the table and pulled out some small, cloth squares. “I used my month’s supply of deodorant to cover these cloths.” He began shoving them into Monty’s jacket pockets, as well as his own. “This will _theoretically,”_ he said in a British accent, “mask the skunky odor.”

“Oh, so that’s why you’ve smelled like the Mech station bathrooms all month.”

“Shut it.” Jasper retorted, shoving a cloth in Monty’s mouth, causing him to promptly gag and spit it out. “Anyways: if anyone is in there, I can do the harvesting while you distract them. Talk about their latest modified crop or something nerdy like that.” He puffed out his chest and threw his hands on his hips. “Wha’d’ya think?” Monty blinked, then stood up to meet his friend and held out his hand.

“Sounds like a deal.” He said, Jasper’s hand clapped into his. For a moment, Monty felt as though agreeing to this dumb plan may have been worth it simply because of this moment. It felt exactly like it did in his dream; Jasper’s hand was warm, his fingers long and bony, wrapping around his own, smaller fingers. The moment was over in a blink — too soon, almost — as Jasper enthusiastically shook his hand and let go, returning it to Monty’s side. He quickly dispelled his increasingly confusing thoughts as Jasper practically ripped the mug from his hands and shoved him out the door.


	3. Chapter 3

Jasper practically skipped down the hall, leaving Monty to lag behind slightly. The smell of must and deodorant was dense, a cloud surrounding the pair. Suddenly, Jasper stopped dead in his tracks, slowly peering around the corner.

“Hide.” He whispered at Monty, grabbing his arm and dragging him back down the hall. They stopped at the first door and dove in, shutting the door behind them, leaving a small crack.

“You really had to pick the most cramped maintenance closet on the entire ship?” Monty teased, shuffling around uncomfortably in the cramped space. A mop bucket and various jugs of chemicals occupied most of the free space, leaving the two of them pressed close, legs intertwining around each other and a cockeyed broom handle.

“Shhh.” Jasper clasped his hand over Monty’s mouth, causing his heart to begin picking up once again. He’d been having this dream for a year or so now — why was it only just now getting to him? Monty stuck out his tongue and licked his friends palm, causing him to recoil. “You’re nasty.” He breathed, and they both chuckled.

“Who’s out there?” Monty asked, craning to look through the crack.

“Stay over there. I’m trying to see.” A voice came from immediately outside the door. Based upon the sound of the footsteps, it was just one person. “It’s an engineer checking the scrubbers.” The figure outside sighed loudly moments upon opening the panel and connecting a handheld device.

“Not lookin’ good…not lookin’ good…” it said. Monty creaked the door open a tad farther to see, trying to inch closer to Jasper — for a number of reasons — but primarily to see who the engineer was, when…

**_Thunk, _**_tink-tink. _The broom fell from its wall-mounted holder and clattered onto the metal floor. Jasper stared wide-eyed at Monty while the voice outside stopped and began inching towards the closet.

“Hello?” it said, commanding an answer.

“Bear with me, I have an idea.” In a split second, Jasper’s arms were around Monty’s waist, pulling him closer than they already were. Without hesitation, their lips touched. Monty’s eyes closed, his heart swelling, reaching his hands to Jasper’s head, fingers burying themselves in his hair, puling him even deeper. Never would Monty have imagined this, despite knowing, in the back of his mind, that this was intended to be a cover. He felt stars exploding, galaxies merging, planets colliding. Jasper’s arms tightened even more, their bodies as close together as they could be with their thick layers of clothing between them. It’s quite possible, Monty thought, that this was the single best moment of his life.

Sadly, that’s all it was — a moment. The figure had opened the door and observed the scene for a matter of seconds before clearing his throat. The two boys separated.

“Oh, Mr. Griffin!” Jasper exclaimed, blushing slightly, although Monty was sure that _he _was looking like a damn tomato. Jake chuckled awkwardly.

“Sorry to bother you kids, but shouldn’t you two be in class?” he asked, his husky voice intimidating them both.

“You’re exactly right! We’ll head there right away.” Jasper gave a small salute and slipped out of the closet, past Jake, continuing towards their original destination. Monty lingered, still shaken over the last two minutes’ whirlwind of events.

“Monty? Are you okay?” Jake asked, clearly concerned.

“Y-yeah.” He replied, wiping sweat from his brow. He attempted to move around Jake, who blocked his path.

“You can talk to me, you know. I know how it is.” Monty’s demeanor shifted from flustered to curious. Jake continued, clarifying. “Before I met Abby, I had a friend,” he paused, pondering for a minute. “Let’s call him Tony. Tony and I did everything together; we were inseparable. As we got older, I realized I had developed feelings for him, feelings I feared he didn’t reciprocate, or at least not to the extent I did.”

“What happened?”

“Well,” Jake lifted his arms. “Nothing happened. I was too afraid, so I shut him off. I lived alone for years until Abby and I started talking, and then suddenly, I had a family and a job.” He chuckled. “Hardly anybody’s first love ends well, but that shouldn’t deter you from trying.” A sincere smile spread across his face. “Speaking of which, were you still considering applying to the engineering program? We could use some bright minds like you!”

Monty beamed at the complement. “Of course I’m still considering- I mean, I’m definitely going to apply!” A switch flipped, and he dove into a concept he had been developing; an updated hydroponics system that would do away leaks and wasted water. “Hydro station would love it, Farm station would love it, so everyone would love it!” Jake nodded, enthralled, but every few minutes Monty noted him glancing up and down the hallway, and back to the scrubber he was working on. Minutes flew by before he came back to reality, remembering that Jasper was waiting for him.

“Oh crap, I’ve got to go. I’m running late to the— class, I’m running late to class. Nice talking to you, Mr. Griffin!” Jake smiled, moving to the side to allow Monty to leave the closet. He waved as he shuffled down the hall, his pace picking up to a run as soon as he turned the corner. They only had a limited amount of time to execute this plan, already extremely unreliable, and he wasted a good fifteen minutes talking about watering damn plants. At the very least, Jake had some worthwhile advice; Monty would talk to Jasper about his feelings when he had the time. They _were _friends, so at the very least Jasper would understand…just, maybe not feel the same way.

That passing thought caused pangs in Monty’s chest. He was scared to potentially lose his friend, yes, but more than that— he was more scared that Jasper wouldn’t feel the same. Monty thought to the kiss; how natural it felt, how their bodies felt pressed close together. The heat, energy, transferring between them. A few seconds of that felt like a lifetime, one that Monty knew he’d never get bored of. That kiss truly solidified the fact that Monty was deeply, irrevocably in love with his best friend, and at this point he just accepted it. Jake was right, it’s not something to worry about, and Monty was sure he wasn’t the only one in the world or beyond that had fallen for their best friend. _Almost there, _he thought. _Left, left, right, and_

_ **Thud**. _Monty ran right into Jasper, who was waiting right around the corner.

“Damn, that took you long enough!” he spat, exhausted with waiting. “I was about to go in myself!”

“Sorry!” Monty huffed and puffed in an attempt to collect his breath. “Jake…was talking…so much…”

Jasper chortled. “Did he have anything to say about that scene?”

“Actually, no.” to Jasper’s apparent and instant shock, Monty elaborated. “He just asked about my application to the engineering program; he knows I’ve been interested for a while, and it’s almost time.” He shrugged. “Let’s get this plan going before everyone comes back.”

“I scouted ahead; there’s nobody in there, as far as I can see. Let’s go.” The two of them quickly and quietly slithered into the Farm. The air was thick and moist, a feeling Monty was used to, having grown up in this environment. Hydroponic systems intertwined throughout the crops, swaths of green and PVC piping stretching back as far as the eye could see. Large fans adorned the ceiling in intervals, providing proper circulation of air in the musty space. Without skipping a beat, the boys weaved their way around the maze of plants, a variety of crops being used for food, medicine, and various other reasons. They knew where they were headed; the secure room in the very back. It held all the goods: marijuana, poppy plants, any planet with psychoactive properties.

“Thank god they lessened the restrictions.” Monty started, inputting his mother’s code into the keypad. A dull _clank _let them know the door was unlocked. “They used to take inventory of this room daily, but there’s barely enough people to run the farm now, let alone take a regular inventory. Everyone wants to be the next Reyes.” 

“Can you blame them?” Jasper questioned as they entered the room, the skunky smell of plants wafting over them. “How cool would it be to spacewalk?” They let the door close and _clank _behind them. “Alright, split up and look for areas dense with buds. Just take one or two, remember?” Jasper went left, and Monty right, sweeping up and down the aisles that held numerous marijuana plants — mostly utilized medicinally by Ark citizens in need of antianxiety or pain killing properties.

Jasper got to work immediately, plucking nugs here and there, stuffing them into his deodorized pockets. Monty couldn’t help but watch him, working meticulously; his brow was furrowed, tongue between his teeth as he focused on the task at hand. Monty had to shake off the thoughts pervading his mind. He couldn’t lose his focus here. That’s what would get them caught.

Cautiously, he scanned the plants in his section, preferring to pick buds around the back of the plants. After a few minutes, the two of them met at the other end and conferred over how much they had.

“This should be fine.” Monty pushed, the latent fear of being caught lingering in the back of his mind. “This would make two or more full batches of edibles, or we could make it into oil.”

“You’re right.” Jasper agreed, much to Monty’s astonishment. “Let’s go.” They weaved to the door and Monty put the code in. He peeked outside and waved Jasper behind him to follow, when, suddenly, conversation came from the other side of the door leading to the hall. Instinctively, Monty pushed Jasper back into the Secure Room.

“I’ll get rid of them. Leave when it’s safe.” Monty shut the door and ran over to the first crop he could think of: tomatoes. He knelt at the hydroponic system, took a pen out of his pocket, and bored a hole into the pipe. It began to drip water onto the floor, already worn from years of water damage.

“Jaha can’t be serious.” James said, pushing into the Farm with a small crowd of the other workers, Hannah included. “These new regulations will be the death of this Farm, and we—” He stopped mid-sentence upon seeing his son. “Monty? What are you doing?”

“Hey, dad. I was talking to Jake about a new idea, so I came here to try and brainstorm. I saw this leak,” he pointed to the pipe, “so I decided to help fix it.” James came over and examined the pipe.

“Damn, not again. Monty, go get me some duct tape. This can wait until tomorrow, I think I’m going to give the crew the rest of the day off.” Monty smiled; this was perfect. James bought the lie, and now they’d fix the leak and he’d walk out of the Farm with the rest of the employees, giving Jasper an opportunity to leave. He returned with the tape and wrapped it around the pipe twice, ripped it off, and returned it to the shelves that housed various tools.

“Shouldn’t you be in class right now?” Hannah asked, mopping up the water that had collected under the pipe.

“I was heading there when I ran into Jake, and he asked me if I was still interested in applying to the engineering program.” His parents rolled their eyes in unison. They didn’t like the idea of their only son leaving the Farm in favor of engineering, but they had warmed up to the idea in the months its been since he proposed it. 

“Alright, crew!” James announced. “Let’s head out. I’m over today.” The crew had just started tending to the crops at this time, so they cheered as they packed their tools back up. They all marched out of the Farm and toward whatever destination they had in mind.

“Monty, head to class, please. You need to keep your grades up, especially if you’re trying to apply to that program.” Hannah said, kissing her son’s cheek. “I’ll see you when we get home. We may be later than usual.”

“Okay mom. Love you guys!” he waved at them as they walked up the hallway towards Mech station. Monty looked back into the Farm and saw one or two workers still lingering, so he headed towards his dwelling. He moved to open the door until a thought stopped him in his tracks.

_ Shit. I hope Jasper knows the passcode. _


End file.
